


Waking Up to Hope

by SerStolas



Series: Stormpilot Week [5]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-05
Updated: 2017-07-05
Packaged: 2018-11-23 14:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11404455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: The weeks after Starkiller is destroyed.  One friend waits for another to wake up.For Stormpilot Week 2017, Day 5: July 5th - Deleted Scenes from The Last Jedi





	Waking Up to Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Star Wars belongs to LucasArts/Disney
> 
> find me on tumblr: nytemere.tumblr.com

The room filled with the steady sound of monitors, telling the medical droids and doctors that the patient was still alive. As the nurse peered in the room, she saw the familiar sight of an off duty Resistance pilot dozing in a chair beside the patient's bed. The Twi'lek had seen the same sight a dozen times or more during the past few weeks. When the pilot wasn't fixing his X-Wing or on duty, he was here, watching the newest member of the Resistance as he lay in a coma.

She smiled slightly and continued down the hall. They didn't expect much change in the patient tonight, and while she knew the pilot would be more comfortable sleeping in his own bed than a chair, she also knew from prior experience that arguing with him was pointless.

The past few weeks, while victorious, had been tense for the Resistance. For the first day or two, everyone had been riding the high of the destruction of Starkiller Base, but then the reality of the causalities set in. The Resistance had always been undermanned, but now the empty bunks were felt more heavily, and then there was the destruction of Hosnian Prime. 

Billions of people, killed in just a blip of time. Those here who had lived through the destruction of Alderaan were hit doubly hard.

Sometimes the Twi'lek nurse wondered how the General was still functioning, given the sheer amount of grief the woman experienced. There was something special about that one.

The nurse could still smile a little, though, because here in this quiet wing of the medical ward, she still saw hope in all the damage. A young man who had spent his entire life under the brutal reign of the First Order had bucked conditioning and made the decision to save another man who had given up hope of rescue.

The cocktail of drugs that they'd found in Finn's blood steam made her wonder even more at how he'd managed to break that conditioning. The First Order kept their Stormtroopers very heavily medicated, though not docile, and susceptible to mental control. They were carefully weaning him off those compounds slowly, less they jeopardize his health even further with withdrawal symptoms. It was just as well he was unconscious during the process. 

She hoped soon, though, that the man would awaken, and see the friend who often waited by his side.

She continued on her nightly rounds, thinking that, soon there would be a happy reunion, something else to give them something to smile about.

~~

Another early morning as Poe dozed in the chair beside Finn's bedside. He'd been out on a mission for the past few days, and after debriefing, the refresher, and a real meal, he'd found himself unable to sleep, so he'd ended up in the medical ward, as usual. 

These days Poe hated sleeping. The aftermath of his time on the _Finalizer_ had done a number on his head. Yes, he was talking to the professional on base about it, but that still didn't keep the nightmares at bay at night.

So he came here and watched Finn; watched his friend who had managed the monumental feat of shaking off Stormtrooper conditioning to help Poe escape, because it was the right thing, and then had been willing to go back to save Rey.

Poe was one of those who was very conscious about consent and personal space. While his first reunion with Finn had been a joyful embrace, he hadn't touched his unconscious friend in the time Finn had been under. It seemed wrong to him to take the man's hand without him being aware of it, no matter how much Poe might like him.

Still, he didn't want Finn to wake up alone, so here he was.

He slumped in the chair, neck at a bit of an awkward angle as he slept. The nurse who had done her rounds earlier knew he'd wake up from a crick in his neck, but she also knew arguing with him was pointless. Pity there wasn't room to put a cot in the room for him.

The nightmares weren't quite as bad when he was in the room with Finn, but Poe still sometimes got them, and this was one of those nights.

Tonight though, a very welcome voice was the one to draw him out of it.

The sound of Finn's voice, husky from disuse, calling his name, is what jolted Poe awake as he groaned in pain in his sleep.

“Poe, Poe please, wake up,” Finn rasped, not as loud as he would like, but even disoriented as Finn felt, some part of him couldn't stand to see Poe this way.

Poe jolted awake, one moment looking around the room with wild eyes, then his brown orbs fell on Finn, met Finn's warm brown eyes, and relief soared through the pilot.

“Finn?” he asked, almost hesitantly.

Now Finn reached his hand out, and Poe felt comfortable taking it. “Rey?” Finn asked softly.

But his fingers were entwined with Poe's, willingly, as he asked.

“She's safe. Went off to find Skywalker,” Poe promised him. “She asked me to look after you.”

Finn smiled a little at that.

As much as Poe might like to keep this moment to himself, he knew the doctors would need to look Finn over. “I'm gonna go get the nurse,” he told Finn, squeezing his friend's fingers lightly. “So glad you're back with us, buddy.”

“Glad to be back, Poe,” Finn replied. “Thank you.”

Poe forced his tired legs up to go looking for the nurse, but he glanced over his shoulder when he reached the doorway and smiled at Finn. Finn's smile back was like the sun coming up.

As Poe slipped out of the room and went looking for the Twi'lek, he knew things were going to be alright. The Resistance wasn't out of the woods yet, and the First Order was still out there, but he had hope that they would make it out on the other side.


End file.
